And it was all yellow...

{forsythia in the sky}

{best pizza place in the woods}

{homemade panera mac and cheese}

 {backyard surprise}

{woodsy yellow}

{yarn along: kalajoki sock}

weekend snippets: homebody

sweet sweets.

 

first attempt at basket weaving. 

as you can see, it's not quite a basket yet.

challah

i've wanted to make this bread for years and finally the stars aligned.

casting on for the knit along. 

 afraid those 160 stitches will intimidate the new knitters in our group.

 big curry noodle pot

perfect for warming up on a lazy winter night.

* * * 

how was your weekend? i'd love to hear about what you enjoyed.

homemade peanut butter cups

The women on my dad's side of the family make Christmas candy every year. My aunts and cousins set up little candy-making factories in their kitchens and churn out toffee, fudge, peanut butter cups, and more. I'm easing my way into candy making. My grandma let me help out with her Christmas candy a couple of years ago, and my one day apprenticeship made me bold enough to try out some simple candy on my own.

These peanut butter cups are the easiest candy to make. They're a great place to start if you're a beginner or if you just want to put in minimal effort for maximum candy deliciousness. I know Christmas is many months away, but peanut butter cups would be a perfect Valentine's Day (or really, any day) treat. These are much tastier than a box of store bought candy!

* * * * *

Peanut butter cups

Makes approximately 75 peanut butter cups.

Ingredients
2 lbs. chocolate (I used milk chocolate; Mom uses white. Dark chocolate would be divine.)
1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar

Equipment
Candy molds
Paint brush
Double-boiler

Peanut butter filling:

Make the peanut butter filling first so that it can chill in the refrigerator overnight or at least a couple of hours. It's much easier and less messy to work with when it's cold.

Cream the butter. When it's soft and smooth, add the peanut butter. Beat until completely combined. Whip in the powdered sugar. Refrigerate overnight.

Assembling:

Melt chocolate in a double boiler. Drop a small teaspoon of melted chocolate into each candy mold. Use paintbrush to spread a thin layer of chocolate over the bottom and sides of the mold. Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes until the chocolate has hardened.

Roll peanut butter filling into marble-sized balls. Place one ball in each candy mold, pressing down slightly to flatten. Cover with melted chocolate. Refrigerate for 5-10 minutes. When the chocolate has solidified, unmold the candies. They should slide right out. These peanut butter cups keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge, but they never last that long at our house.

little things

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my U.S. friends (and happy Thursday to everyone else)!

Good morning! Today is starting off with a cup of creamy hot coffee and gingerbread cookie beside me, so needless to say, I have a lot to be thankful for. I have a lot of big things to be thankful for this year--healthy family, new home, steady job, graduate degree--but this blog is about noticing the small things, too. Little things I'm thankful for lately:

{cheese and fruit feast}

Accompanied by a movie marathon with my little sister. 

{quince yarn and harmony needles}

I never get bored with this soft yarn and these colorful needles.

{persimmon tree in the neighborhood}

Reminds me of our time in Japan.

{vegetable pot pie}

So cozy and comforting.

* * * 

I hope you have a lot of things--both big and small--to be thankful for today and always.

Happy Thanksgiving!

it feels like home

apple peeling out on the deck.

garlic planting. hoping for a harvest come june.

in the evenings, japanese maple shadows dance across our walls.

{so hard to capture in a photo...}

squash bread makes the new place smell like home.

a beautiful day in the neighborhood. yeah, it feels this idyllic in person, too.

* * * 

I can only show you snippets of our days lately. If I showed you more, you'd see that nearly every room of the house still has boxes to unpack. You'd see me sneaking off to read The Hunger Games or knit Christmas presents or watch the first season of The Sopranos with K. We're settling in slowly. 

It's funny the things that have changed. Things that I never could have anticipated. For instance, I can see the sky so much better in our house than I could from our apartment. I never knew how much I missed it, but lately I've been watching the clouds by day and marveling at the waxing moon by night. What a show.

happy distractions

Happy fingers

(Cables! Woohoo!)

Happy mouth 

(find a version of the recipe here)

Happy thoughts

(dreaming of my next sweater and a hat)

* * * * *

Lately I've found mounds of happy things to distract me from moving chores, but we've got a stack of empty boxes in the living room that I've promised myself I'll start filling. Soon. We move in three weeks!

What's making you happy today?

today

Today has been a slow Sunday.

K and I went on a couple of hot walks--one to the grocery and one to pay the rent. Even though I started sweating the moment I stepped out the door, I'm glad that we live near enough to walk to a lot of places, and I plan to keep walking despite the weather.

I took photos of flowers that I saw along the way (and may have snagged one growing from a crack in the sidewalk to put in a vase at home). I'm keeping mental notes of all the flowers I want to plant once I finally have a yard again. The list is long.

Our galley kitchen was crowded as K and I spent the afternoon preparing pitas, hummus, feta dip, and lemonade for dinner. The results were delicious, but the making...eh...not so much. Two cooks in a tiny kitchen with lots of food prep going on is just plain frustrating. When my shoes stuck to the floor because of spilled lemon juice and every surface seemed covered in flour, I took a mid-afternoon yoga break to keep myself from cussing anymore. When I felt calm again, I returned to baking bread only to burn my forearm on a 450* oven door. Yeah, so much for that not cussing idea. Some days aren't meant for cooking and I just have to accept that.

I did discover a new love: shandy. When I first heard mention of this beer and lemonade concoction I gagged a little. It sounded like a terrible combination. Rest assured, it is not. Shandy tastes like sweet, bubbly lemon soda, and I'm hereby dubbing it my drink of the summer.  

A sunny perch on the couch was the perfect place for knitting today. The baby cardigan for my friend is coming along quickly.

* * * 

How's your weekend? What have you been up to?

csa day: summer stuff (and a comfort food recipe)

last week

This is what we've gotten the last two weeks from our CSA. I love that we're getting summer stuff like tomatoes (yay!), squash, basil, and watermelon, but also getting things like carrots, potatoes, and onions. Planning dinners has been a cinch lately because of all the food we've got on hand, and our weekly grocery trips are getting shorter and cheaper. We often look in our cart as we stand in line at the register and ask, is this really all we need? I'm really impressed with the variety and amount of produce we've been getting from the farm this year.

this week

Want to know what we've been making? I've included a menu for the past two weeks since I am behind in my posting.

Menu
Tuesday: Leftover okonomiyaki and tamagoyaki

Wednesday: Homemade pizza with onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, and spinach. Crust recipe is here. I also made a whole-wheat version to try.

Thursday/Friday: Thai curry with squash, green beans, and tofu

Saturday: Out to eat at the Sante Fe Grill, our new favorite Mexican restaurant in town

Sunday: Veggie burgers. Corn, tomato, and basil salad with vinaigrette.

Monday: Japanese curry with potatoes, carrots, onions, and tofu

* * *

Tuesday: Out with co-workers (me), fending for himself (K)

Wednesday: Leftover curry

Thursday: Pasta with tomatoes, basil, feta, and fried eggs

Friday: Barbecue tofu, cabbage casserole, sauteed squash

Saturday: Out

Sunday/Monday: Hummus, pitas, feta dip, and lots of fresh vegetables

* * * * * 

I've made the cabbage casserole twice recently for company and both times the guests went back for seconds, which I think says a lot for a cabbage dish. The cabbage flavor gets a layer of depth from roasting in the oven and is complemented by buttery cracker crumbs and sharp cheddar cheese. It's savory comfort food.

I wanted to give you a recipe, but I don't measure anything for this--I just use what we have on hand. Here's what I estimate I used this last time. Feel free to change things up and eyeball amounts.

Cabbage Casserole
(adapted from a dish K's mom makes)

2 small heads of cabbage (equivalent to 1 large)
4 tiny onions (equivalent to 1 medium onion)
1/2 sleeve of Ritz crackers, crushed
2 TBSP butter, melted
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, grated
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 350* and oil a 13" x 9" baking dish.

Chop the cabbage and onions into thin strips. Saute cabbage and onions with a bit of oil over medium-high heat until softened, about 5-7 minutes. Be sure to salt and pepper generously.

While the vegetables cook, mix the melted butter and crushed crackers.

Transfer cabbage and onions to the prepared baking dish. Top with cheddar cheese and cracker crumbs. Bake for 10-15 minutes. Serve immediately and amaze your friends and family with how delicious cabbage can be. This is also great reheated the next day.

csa day: summer vegetables

Squash, zucchini, onions, cucumbers, cabbage, green beans, garlic, fennel

Menu

Tuesday/Wednesday: Skillet nachos with black beans, squash, and zucchini

Thursday: Family cook out

Friday/Saturday: Green curry with tofu, zucchini, and green beans over rice

Sunday/Monday: Okonomiyaki (Japanese cabbage pancake), tamagoyaki (sweet omelet). I planned this meal for a couple of weeks ago, but it never got made.

* * * * * 

Otsu (Soba salad)

Recently I've been cooking from Super Natural Cooking and found this cold soba dish to be the perfect summer meal. Crisp vegetables, tofu, cilantro, and soba are tossed with a tangy Asian-inspired dressing. This meal is even better after chilling overnight in the fridge. We're definitely putting it in our regular dinner rotation. I've also been thinking of how to adapt this for a summer picnic or potluck. I think smaller pasta and tofu cubes instead of strips would make it very picnic friendly. Here's the otsu recipe link if you're interested (and you should be, it's delicious!).

* * * 

What are you eating this week?

Also, does anybody have any suggestions for cooking fennel? I've got three bulbs in my fridge right now. They're starting to taunt me.

csa day: first day of summer

Summer is here! I'm anxiously awaiting some juicy tomatoes, but that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the cooler weather crops. 

This week we got kale, cabbage, mixed salad greens, radishes, onions, and potatoes.

Menu

Tuesday/Wednesday: Black bean, kale, and onion tacos

Thursday/Friday: Pitas stuffed with hummus, salad greens, radishes, and carrots. Topped with feta dip from Sweet Paul magazine. This meal was slated for last week, but we didn't get around to it.

Saturday/Sunday: Toasted kale with eggs and marinara sauce

Monday: Okonomiyaki

Snack: Kale chips

We've got a lot of kale. So far we've eaten it in soup and pie, toasted it, sauteed it, and baked it. We even put it on our tacos tonight. I know. I was desperate because we suddenly had two giant bunches in the fridge. We did find a new favorite kale dish last week when we made kale and feta pizza. I'd recommend that one. The tacos are only for the really adventurous. If you've got other ideas, let me know. We'd like to try them all while we've got so much kale on hand. Actually, I just want new recipes so that I can trick myself into thinking I'm eating something different instead of kale again. Please send ideas. 

csa day

This week our CSA box came loaded with broccoli, French breakfast radishes (oolala--fancy), carrots, lettuce, kale, and kohlrabi. With the exception of the radishes, we got these same vegetables last week. That's fine--it just means I have to be more creative so it doesn't feel like we're eating the same thing over and over. This is what I've come up with:

Menu

Tuesday/Wednesday: Teriyaki vegetable and tofurky sandwiches

Thursday/Friday: Broccoli Lasagna

Saturday/Sunday: Kale and Feta Pizza

Monday: Hummus, pita bread, whatever raw vegetables we have left

Every day: Salad of lettuce, carrots, radishes, and kohlrabi

Dessert of the week: 25 cent ice cream on Saturday!

* * * 

Scenes from my kitchen last week

Chocolate chip pecan cookies 

I baked three dozen for a get together with friends. Then I froze the extra dough--enough for two dozen more cookies!

Eggs ready to be made into cake

I made a yellow cake with chocolate icing for my sister's graduation party. It didn't go as smoothly as I had hoped, but enough icing will cover nearly all flaws, right? The cake baked up tall and pale yellow. I frosted it with an old-fashioned chocolate buttercream. We cut thick slices that reminded me so much of the bazaar scene in Pollyanna. Every time I watched that movie I wanted to eat that cake, and now I have. Next time I'll have to snap some photos.

* * * 

What's on your menu this week?

csa day: still salad season

This week our Finger Picking Farms CSA box contained (clockwise from top): Summer Crisp lettuce, Oriole Orange Swiss chard, broccoli, purple and white kohlrabi, Winterbor kale, and Danvers Half long carrots.


Menu for the week

Tuesday/Wednesday: Spicy Black Bean burgers on toast topped with caramelized onions and sauteed chard. Salad of lettuce, carrots, broccoli, and kohlrabi with homemade thousand island dressing. I'm making my own burgers because you guys shamed me into it. Last time I posted veggie burgers on our menu I got several requests for the recipe. Yeah, I just took them out of the box in the freezer and heated them. [head in hands] I'll let you know how this homemade version goes.

Thursday/Friday: Stir-fried tofu and vegetables (carrots, onions, broccoli, kohlrabi) over rice. Served with garlic mirin sauce or maybe magic sauce.

Saturday: Dinner out (Julie's graduation party)

Sunday/Monday: Toasted kale with soy crumbles and marinara sauce (credit goes to Jodi for this one), bread

Bread of the Week: Light Wheat

* * * * * 

I am so glad to be back in the kitchen after several semesters away. I've been baking a lot this week, and I'd highly recommend making your own cheddar crackers (via maya*made). They are a delicious and addicting snack.

Last week's dinner winner was homemade bread topped with sauteed chard, a fried egg, and bechamel sauce. We had this instead of chard gratin because I didn't feel like taking the time to bake everything.

For dessert last week we had strawberry sour cream ice cream from The Perfect Scoop. Punch cups full of sweet homemade ice cream are my favorite summer treat. Of course, I think my favoritism might shift once I make these fudge pops.

* * * 

What's going on in your kitchen this week?

csa day: leafy greens

Our CSA box this week included:

Kale, lots of lettuce, chard, radishes, sugar snap peas, and turnips

Tuesday's dinner

Weekly Menu

Sunday: Black bean and rice tacos

Monday: Leftovers

Tuesday/Wednesday: Barbecue tofu sandwiches, roasted turnips, salad with radishes and sugar snap peas, lemon garlic soy dressing

Thursday/Friday: Spring Garden Soup and rice. This is a miso soup with lots of greens. It's from How It All Vegan. (No, I'm not going vegan. I've had this book since high school when I saw the authors do a cooking demonstration. I was getting rid of things the other day and found some good recipes in this book, so it gets to stay around a while longer.)

Saturday: Dinner with K's family

Sunday: Chard gratin, homemade bread, fried eggs

Monday: Leftovers

We are shifting our meal planning to coordinate with our CSA delivery, so our weekly menu will start on Tuesdays instead of Sundays. We get our vegetables on Monday nights and have decided to use the produce as a jumping off point for meals. We'll then make a list of groceries needed to round out the meals. This is the first year we've shifted our planning/shopping. I think it's a necessary step to using all of the vegetables we get. 

* * * * * 

The sugar snap peas tasted so sweet that I kept eating them like candy as I made dinner tonight. I wanted to balance that sweetness in the salad with a little tartness, so I threw together a lemon garlic soy dressing. It was snappy enough to balance the peas. 

Lemon Garlic Soy Dressing

(*Please note, these measurements are approximate. I eyeballed with these amounts in mind. Also, this recipe makes just enough dressing for two people. Multiply if you want more.)

2 TBSP olive oil

1 TBSP soy sauce

1 TBSP lemon juice (or a bit less. K would prefer less tang. I liked it.)

1 clove of garlic

Blend all ingredients together. I use a Magic Bullet and have dressing in seconds. If you'd prefer an unplugged method, mince the garlic and whisk everything together. 

* * * * * 

Just so I don't give you the wrong idea, we don't eat vegetables all the time. We also make room for sweets. These are sugar cookies I baked to celebrate my sister's college graduation. Festive, huh? She liked the cookies, but our real graduation present to her was helping to move all of her stuff home from school on a hot and humid afternoon. We love you a lot, Jules. 

* * * 

What's going on in your kitchen this week?

Maine in May

Seeing

{Portland Head Light}

Eating

{Red's Eats, Lobster Shack at Two Lights, Pie in the Sky Pizza, Bartley's Dockside}

Sleeping

{Manor House Inn, Bar Harbor}

Drinking

{Tea time at the Manor House, popovers at Jordan Pond House, coffee in Portland, The Great Lost Bear--a top ten U.S. beer bar}

Searching for treasures

{Kennebunk Beach}

Still searching

{Bar Harbor}

Balancing

{Jordan Pond trail, Acadia National Park}

Hiking

{View of Sand Beach from Ocean Path trail, Acadia}

Breathtaking

{The Bubbles, Acadia}

We adored our getaway to Maine. The days were cloudy and rainy at times, but the fog added a touch of mystery and the rain gave us an excuse to take it easy. We spent our time strolling and then ducking into warm places for tea or coffee. We had such a cozy trip. It was the first time we've ventured to the Northeast, but I know we'll be back to see what else the region holds.

* * * * * 

Where have you been lately? 

Or do you have any plans to travel soon?

* * * * * 

(As always, click on the images above to view them larger.)